This collection consists of negatives and photographs relating to Travel Air. The material includes a history of Travel Air written in 1929, as well as several magazine articles about the company. The bulk of the material consists of photographs of commercial aircraft manufactured by Travel Air.
Biographical / Historical:
Travel Air Company was founded in Wichita, KS, in 1925 by Walter Beech, Llloyd Stearman, and Clyde Cessna. Although Stearman and Cessna left in 1927 to found Stearman Company and Cessna Aircraft Company, respectively, by 1929, Travel Air was the largest producer of commercial aircraft in the United States. In that year Travel Air was bought by Curtiss Wright Corp., but it continued to expand as a division of Curtiss Wright. Beech left the firm in 1932 to found Beech Aircraft and Travel Air was eventually absorbed into the larger manufacturer.
Provenance:
Beech Aircraft Corp., Gift, 1985, XXXX-0197
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests